Psalm 121:6














The sun and the moon. To understand these figures, it is necessary to keep in mind, not only what the sun and moon actually are in Eastern countries, but also the sentiments which have gathered about them in those lands.

I. THE SUN IS THE TYPE OF THE OPEN PERILS OF THE GODLY LIFE. The sun strikes openly, and is especially perilous when it strikes on the lower part of the back of the head. Men know this, and are duly warned to take all precautions. And so in life there are various temptations and dangers, which we all know about, which every man knows may come into his personal experience, and concerning which we all, in various ways and degrees, take precautions. Yet even in respect of these we need the assurance of an outside and Divine protection. So strange is the frailty of human nature, that men are over-mastered by the very things they know well, are warned against, and even think themselves strong to resist. It needs to be always kept in mind that the power of temptation depends on the physical, mental, or spiritual condition in which we are found when it assails us. And we need the assurance of God's defense even against open and well-known evils, because he only can know the particular peril which lies in their relativity to us at any given time. Illustrate by the fact that the sunstroke is only an occasional peril. The sun strikes the man who is in a physical condition to receive the stroke. But the man does not know the peril of his physical condition. God knows, and can help him to defend himself from the peril.

II. THE MOON IS THE TYPE OF THE SECRET PERILS OF THE GODLY LIFE. In the cloudless skies of the East, where the moon shines with such exceeding clearness, its effects upon the human frame have been found most injurious. It has been proved, beyond a doubt, that the moon smites as well as the sun, causing blindness for a time, and even the distortion of the features. The Arabs universally believe that the beams of the moon are noxious to the human body; and therefore they carefully cover over their heads when they sleep in the open air. Meat, when exposed to the moonbeams, becomes quickly tainted. Mr. Martin says, "Of the effects of the moon on animal life very many instances could be cited. I have seen in Africa the newly littered young perish in a few hours, if exposed to the rays of the full moon. Fish become rapidly putrid, and meat, if left exposed, incurable or unpreservable by salt. The mariner, heedlessly sleeping on deck, becomes afflicted with nyctolopia, or night-blindness; at times the face is hideously swollen, if exposed during sleep to the moon's rays; the maniac's paroxysms are renewed with fearful vigor at the full and change, and the cold, damp chill of the ague supervenes on the ascendency of this apparently mild yet powerful luminary. Let her influence over this earth be studied; it is more powerful than is generally known." The moon may very well be taken as the type of the secret, subtle, insidious perils of the godly life; and these are chiefly to be dreaded. As there are poison-germs in the natural atmosphere, which generate disease in us when our vitality and resisting power are low, so there are poison-germs in the moral atmosphere of our everyday associations, which only cultured spiritual life can enable us to resist. There are enervating influences, suggestive examples. Little slips into inexactness or untruthfulness. A thousand things in common life, that seem to have no more Power of mischief in them than have the moonbeams. What, then, would be any man's hope of preserving moral health and safety, if we might not cherish the assurance of the psalmist, that God understands all secret perils that gather about us, and will not let the moon smite us by night? "The darkness and the light are both alike to him." - R.T.

The Lord is thy keeper.
A celebrated traveller — after an absence of three years, during which he had walked across the continent of Africa from east to west, through vast regions never before trodden by the foot of the white man — recently received an enthusiastic welcome home. As he approached the quiet Kentish village where he had spent his boyish days, his first act, before entering his much-loved home, was to pass through the portals of the church where his aged father ministered, and, humbly kneeling, offer his devout thanksgiving to that .God who had watched over and preserved him in all his wanderings. Among other appropriate Scriptures this psalm was read. It was a touching scene! Many hearts heaved with emotion, and many tears were shed, as the reader,, in trembling accents, uttered the words, "The Lord is thy keeper," etc. It was a fitting acknowledgment of that Divine goodness which had safely con. ducted the weary, sun-burnt traveller through all the perils of his great and adventurous journey.

I. THE DIVINE PROTECTION IS AMPLE AND EFFICIENT.

1. It is ample. "The Lord is thy shade." He surrounds His people, and guards them at every point of attack. The foe must be able to pierce the invulnerable, and conquer the invincible, before he can touch the feeblest saint who is sheltered by the wings of God.

2. It is efficient. "Upon thy right hand." As the enemies of God's people are ever standing at their right hand to frustrate all their efforts in well-doing, so Jehovah is at their right hand to encourage and sustain those efforts, and restrain their enemies.

II. THE DIVINE PROTECTION SHIELDS FROM THE MOST OPEN ASSAULTS. "The sun shall not smite thee by day." The worker in the dismal mine, the traveller by road, or rail, or sea, the toiler surrounded by the most destructive materials, is alike under the. shadow of the Divine protection.

III. THE DIVINE PROTECTION GUARDS FROM THE EFFECTS OF THE MOST SECRET TREACHERY. "Nor the moon by night." The Divine Sentinel never slumbers. He can never be outwitted by the cunning of the most malicious.

IV. THE DIVINE PROTECTION IS A DEFENCE AGAINST EVERY EVIL. "The Lord shall preserve thee from evil: He shall preserve thy soul." He protects from the evil of sin and of suffering. He turns away the evil that is feared, and alleviates and sanctifies the evil He permit.

V. THE DIVINE PROTECTION IS REALIZED AMID THE ACTIVE DUTIES OF LIFE. "The Lord shall preserve thy going out." The good man is directed in the beginning of his undertakings, and shielded by the Divine presence during their active prosecution (Deuteronomy 28:3-6). He is safe wherever his duties carry him — in the workshop, the street, the busy mart, on the restless sea, or in strange and distant countries.

VI. THE DIVINE PROTECTION OVERSHADOWS THE REST AND QUIETNESS OF HOME. "And thy coming in." Evening brings all home; and the weary one, after the toils and dangers of the day, enjoys the peace and rest of his home all the more because he knows he is encircled by the Divine guardianship. And when the shadows of life's eventide gather round him, he fears not. The Lord will preserve his coming in — his tranquil entrance into the heavenly home!

VII. THE DIVINE PROTECTION IS UNREMITTING. "From this time forth and even for evermore." Lessons —

1. Offer grateful praise for the protection of the past.

2. Fear not the most furious assaults of the enemy.

3. Put all your confidence in the Divine Protector.

(G. Barlow.)

I. THE KEEPER.

1. Those who are redeemed need to be kept (Exodus 23:20).

2. He who is our Redeemer is also our Keeper (Psalm 121:5; 1 Samuel 2:9; Isaiah 42:6; John 17:11).

(1)He keeps us in His power (1 Peter 1:5).

(2)He keeps us by His peace (Philippians 4:7).

II. THE KEEPING.

1. As in a tower (Proverbs 18:20; Psalm 18:2).

2. As in a bank (2 Timothy 1:12).

3. As in a sheepfold (Psalm 23:1; Psalm 80:1).

4. As behind a shield (Psalm 84:11).

(1)Safe (Psalm 31:20; Psalm 121:5-8; Jude 1:24).

(2)Holy (John 17:11, 15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24).

(3)Happy (Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 32:7).

(4)Ceaseless (Isaiah 27:3; Psalm 121:3).

III. THE KEPT.

1. They renounce their own keeping (Proverbs 3:26; Psalm 127:1).

2. They commit themselves to be kept (1 Peter 4:19; Psalm 31:5).

3. They trust Him to meet them (2 Timothy 1:12; Psalm 31:28).

(E. H. Hopkins.)

1. The Lord is my Watchman! I remember that in the days of my boy-hood when my father was away from home, it was sometimes my duty to lock up the house. I used to try every door and every window, but never went to bed with a feeling of peace. I never gained an assurance that everything was safe. I feared that some door remained unlocked, or, if I were sure about the doors, some window would haunt me through the night and disturb my rest. But when my father was the "watchman," and had gone round the house and seen to the doors and windows, I "laid me down in peace and slept." I could trust his vigilance and his care, and the trust was the parent of restful contentment. "The Lord is thy Watchman." Our Father does not leave us to our own self-discovery; He tries the doors and windows of my being. He knows the state of the locks. He knows every room in my personality, and just what are the chances of each room being burglariously entered and despoiled. Our Father especially watches over our safety in the seasons of the night. When sorrow is in the home, when death is at the gate, when calamity blackens the sky, the heavenly Watchman is always near. "He keepeth watch over His flock by night."

2. He is not only my Watchman, He is my Defence.(1) Now let us remember that our Father is sometimes compelled to provide defences for us in ways that are not agreeable or welcome. Defences may sometimes seem the agents of cruelty. The cruelty, however, is only apparent. There is no cruelty in the act of a father who places barbed wire fencing round the edge of the precipice. There is no unkindliness when we put the barbed wire round the mouth of a perilous well. The thorny hedge may keep us from the more dangerous ditch. Have we not sometimes heard people speak in this wise: "Ah, well, his present illness is no doubt saving him from a greater one." Only the other day I heard a doctor say, speaking of a certain patient: "His fever was his salvation." In the feverish fire something was consumed that might have been productive of a more perilous disease. And our Father sometimes sends the fire into our life in order that He might keep us from something infinitely worse. The fire in the forest wards off the wild beasts; and in the fire which God sometimes permits to dwell in our life many things are seared away, and many things are destroyed. In the fire of tribulation superciliousness is destroyed, and so is callousness and every form of pride. The Lord is our Keeper, and in apparent cruelty He pours out the treasures of His heart.(2) Now let us mark the thoroughness of our Father's "keeping." "He shall keep thee as the apple of the eye." How wonderful is the figure I The delicate, sensitive organ, the eye, is protected by the bony framework like an encircling cave. The exquisite instrument is enthroned, as it were, in walls of rock. And just as the eye is protected with these strong encircling ramparts, so my Father will protect me. "He is able to keep you from falling." It is an exquisite figure; the mother is training her little one to walk, and while in great timidity and uncertainty it moves from step to step, the mother's arms almost encircle it, and most surely prevent it from falling. And I, too, am learning to walk, am learning to walk as a child of light; and my feet are so uncertain, and my resolution is so Wavering, that I need the encircling care of the everlasting arms. "The Lord is thy keeper," and "He is able to keep you from falling."

(J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

This verse refers to God during the day. For, oh, when we get out during the day, end go down to the town there, and go about our daily business, we are apt to think: Now, we do not need all that our minister has been preaching to us about — God's care, and God's keeping, and God being our nursing Father. During the day we will kind of "forge ahead" without Him. Nay; do not make that mistake, for you will not. Let God be your Keeper down in business there. I speak to you business men. Suffer the word of exhortation. On some grounds I have no right to speak to you. I stand here and speak for God, and say, when you go back to the office, before you take that budget of letters and open them, look up to God, and say, "Now, Thou art to help me here — here among these papers, and manuscripts, and these clerks, and this business of per cents., and I do not know what all." Aye, they are dangerous things — "per cents." Oh, Heaven help you! You need God among the per cents. You will lose your soul among the per cents, and the ledgers. Remember the overshadowing Presence, and, while it keeps you, may it also sanctify you. "The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." Travellers in tropical countries know the great danger from a stroke of the sun, or a stroke of the moon, or from lying out at night in the mists and the damps. All the dangers of the way are met and forestalled by this great and mighty Keeper of His people.

(John McNeill.)

The Lord is "thy Keeper," but not thy jailor. His keeping is not confinement, but protection. When you commit your ways to Him, He does not abridge your liberty; He only defends you against evil.

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Harm, Moon, Smite, Touched
Outline
1. The great safety of the godly, who put their trust in God's protection

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 121:6

     4251   moon
     4284   sun

Psalm 121:1-8

     8491   watchfulness, divine

Psalm 121:2-8

     1325   God, the Creator

Psalm 121:3-8

     1330   God, the provider
     5330   guard

Psalm 121:5-6

     4834   light, natural
     5297   disease

Library
Looking to the Hills
'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.' --PSALM cxxi. 1, 2. The so-called 'Songs of Degrees,' of which this psalm is one, are usually, and with great probability, attributed to the times of the Exile. If that be so, we get an appropriate background and setting for the expressions and emotions of this psalm. We see the exile, wearied with the monotony of the long-stretching, flat plains of Babylonia, summoning
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Letter xxii (Circa A. D. 1129) to Simon, Abbot of S. Nicholas
To Simon, Abbot of S. Nicholas Bernard consoles him under the persecution of which he is the object. The most pious endeavours do not always have the desired success. What line of conduct ought to be followed towards his inferiors by a prelate who is desirous of stricter discipline. 1. I have learned with much pain by your letter the persecution that you are enduring for the sake of righteousness, and although the consolation given you by Christ in the promise of His kingdom may suffice amply for
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Saint Prays to be Directed by a Different Way. Intellectual visions.
1. I now resume the story of my life. I was in great pain and distress; and many prayers, as I said, [1] were made on my behalf, that our Lord would lead me by another and a safer way; for this, they told me, was so suspicious. The truth is, that though I was praying to God for this, and wished I had a desire for another way, yet, when I saw the progress I was making, I was unable really to desire a change,--though I always prayed for it,--excepting on those occasions when I was extremely cast
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

Christ all and in All.
(Colossians iii. 11.) Christ is all to us that we make Him to be. I want to emphasize that word "all." Some men make Him to be "a root out of a dry ground," "without form or comeliness." He is nothing to them; they do not want Him. Some Christians have a very small Saviour, for they are not willing to receive Him fully, and let Him do great and mighty things for them. Others have a mighty Saviour, because they make Him to be great and mighty. If we would know what Christ wants to be to us, we
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

Words of Counsel.
"A bruised reed shall He not break."--Isaiah xlii. 3; Matt. xii. 20. It is dangerous for those who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other people. Many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of their grandfather or grandmother. I had a friend who was converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go down into that meadow and be converted. Another was converted under a bridge; and he thinks that if any enquirer were to go there he would find the Lord. The best
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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